How to Change Aperture on Nikon D3000 and D5000

I get a lot of questions around changing aperture on Nikon D3000 and D5000 cameras and why aperture sometimes changes automatically on some lenses. This is a very quick tip on how to change aperture on both D3000 and D5000 (the top view is identical for both).

How to change aperture on Nikon D3000 and Nikon D5000 cameras

Make sure that your lens aperture can be changed through the camera. If you are using an older lens with an aperture ring, make sure to set the aperture on the lens to the largest number. There should be a lock on the lens to keep it at that number. If you are getting an error on the back LCD of the camera when you press the “Info” button, you should go back and make sure that the aperture ring is set correctly. This is not an issue on most new lenses and the latest generation of the Nikon lenses labeled with a “G” do not have this ring at all. For example, neither the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR nor the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX lens have the aperture ring.

Changing lens aperture in Aperture Priority mode is very easy – just make sure that the dial on top of the camera is set to “A” position, then rotate the rear command dial to the left to decrease the aperture and to the right to increase it. In Aperture Priority mode, you set the lens aperture manually, while the camera picks the right Shutter Speed for you.

Changing lens aperture in Manual mode is a little tricky. First, make sure that the dial on the top of the camera is set to “M” position.

Next, press and hold the +/- button located right below the camera shutter, then rotate the rear command dial to change aperture. Rotating to the left will decrease the aperture, while rotating to the right will increase the aperture.

When you decrease the aperture, the aperture setting will stop at the maximum aperture the lens allows. For example, on the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G lens, aperture will stop at f/1.8. There is also a limit on minimum aperture on each lens and you cannot go higher than that limit as well. Typical minimum lens apertures are f/16, f/22 and f/36.

Lens apertures work a little differently on zoom lenses and the minimum/maximum aperture depends on what focal length you are using on the lens. For example, if you are using the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5 lens and you are zoomed out at 18mm, the smallest aperture number you can use is f/3.5. However, if you zoom in to 55mm, the aperture will be limited to f/5.6 and you will not be able to go lower than that. The same principle works on all other variable aperture zoom lenses.

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About Nasim Mansurov

Nasim Mansurov is the author and founder of Photography Life, based out of Denver, Colorado. He is recognized as one of the leading educators in the photography industry, conducting workshops, producing educational videos and frequently writing content for Photography Life. You can follow him on Instagram, 500px and Facebook. Read more about Nasim here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

1) sunil

February 1, 2011 at 2:11 am

Hi..i have Nikon D5000 camera with 18-55mm lens.My aperture is seen as Lo…not able to change its value.How can i set it right?

Your site has been immensely helpful to me and I want to thank you for sharing with us your experience. My question today is simply this, is there any way to operate a flash unit from off the camera body?

I also want to tell you how incredibly helpful this was to me! I tried to read the manual and had such a hard time that I thought about taking my camera back because I thought it just wasnt doing what I thought I was wanting out of it. This website has helped me figure out how to adjust what I wanted and what I need to know about being aware of my surroundings while using this camera….all of it done in lamens terms, THANK YOU!

Hello, I am very happy I found this blog! I learned a lot of new things and also it helped me to remember the old ones. :) I couldn’t find the right topic to write so I’ll write here. :) I am using Nikon D3000 with 18-55mm lens for more than one year. After this time I realised what kind of photos I like to take and what I want from photography. I am not into nature photography, I like to take pictures of people. I like photshoots with people and also I am freelancer phorgrapher in youth organisation, but lectures always are in the places where lights are not good so my photos don’t have such a good quality I would like they had. Of course I could use flash but I avoid this because people get distracted by flash. I am telling this for the reason, because I hope it will help you understand what I want. So, I want new lens for D3000, but I feel like I am not good enough to chose it by myself. I need your advice what lens is good enough to take better quality photos in places without not very good lights and without using flash. I am starting to hate all my photos because I can’t stand the quality especially when people are moving even a little. And I need something wouldn’t cost a lot, because lenses in my country are million times more expensive because of currency… I heard that 55-200mm. lens is a great choice. Is it? Waiting for an answer!!!:) P.S. Sorry for my bad english.. :)

Thank you for taking the time to post yhis website. I find it a very good reference for me as a beginner. I have something going on with my nikon D5000 and it this point don’t know if it’s a setting. Brief history, I purchased my camera from Wolfe and bought the expensive waaranty that includes cleaning. That warranty goes out in less than a month. After owning the camera for about a year, I took it and the lenses in to be cleaned. He wrote it up as having to be checked so that he could send it off for cleaning instead of having to do it in house. They sent back cleaned and replaced the “shutter control” don’t really know the term they used but whatever makes the shutter speed work properly. Here lies the problem, the camera has never taken perfectly focused pictures since. By this I mean, before I have actually been riding down the interstate , picked up the camera, took a picture of a graveyard, could zoom it in and read name, date of death everything on the toombstone, or shooting way out on the lake and zoom in and look at the perfect face of a bird. Shooting in automatic of course, told you I am a novice. I have sent it back twice with the complaint that I can’t even come close to shots like that anymore. they have sent it back both times saying that the camera is operating normally. And have told me they don’t know how I would have gotten shots like that anyhow. I have the proof. Ok any suggestions for what I should try next or if it’s just a setting. My warranty expires pretty soon and I’m just not a fan of my Nikon anymore. Thanks again for your site. Jeanne

I am traveling to the Arches and Canyonlands in early June. I have a Nikon D3000 with the standard kit, 18-55 mm lens. What would be the best settings and exposure time for night photography of the Milky Way and other stars ?

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